PSY-Frame

A playset of PSY-Framegear Gamma and a lone copy of PSY-Frame Driver can be seen in the winning decks of 160th ALANN CUP. A Lawnmowing Infernoid, placing first, ran it in their Main Deck, whereas the runner-up who piloted True Draco Metalfoes Kozmo sided it instead.

In this article, we will discuss the utility of running the PSY-Frame engine to act as a ‘Hand Trap’.

Negation

PSY-Framegear Gamma
Effect Tuner Monster
Level 2 / LIGHT / Psychic
ATK 1000 / DEF 0
Cannot be Normal Summoned/Set. Must be Special Summoned by a card effect, and cannot be Special Summoned by other ways. During either player’s turn, when your opponent activates a monster effect while you control no monsters: You can Special Summon both this card from your hand and 1 “PSY-Frame Driver” from your hand, Deck, or Graveyard, and if you do, negate that activation, and if you do that, destroy that monster. During the End Phase, banish the face-up monsters Special Summoned by this effect.

Back in February, an Artifact Windwitch Invoked deck (158th ALANN CUP) that topped similarly ran a PSY-Frame engine in the Main Deck. As LIGHT monsters, the PSY-Frame engine doubles as Fusion Materials for Invoked Mechaba.

PSY-Framegear Gamma is unlike Effect Veiler. It is capable of negating any monster effect, either from your opponent’s hand, graveyard or field, as long as you control no monsters. This works hand in hand with the Windwitch Invoked deck, where it runs Wonder Wand as a draw engine. Wonder Wand can empty the field, and players usually follow-up with Invocation. Windwitch – Ice Bell‘s effect also starts a Chain.

In both of these scenarios, if the opponent responses by activating Maxx “C”, PSY-Framegear Gamma can land onto the field and negate it, preventing your opponent from gaining hand advantage.

The PSY-Frame engine also capitalises on other instances, such as a preemptive activation of Maxx “C” when the Pendulum scales align, or when Kozmo monster effects activate in the grave after a board wipe.

Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring

Maximum Crisis brought one of the strongest ‘Hand Trap’ monster to the game – Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring. It soon became apparent that it was a threat to plenty of decks, with its exceptional ability to shut off searches and deck milling, preventing plays from even starting off.

Plenty of cards that start off plays can be negated by Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring. In Infernoid decks, That Grass Looks Greener, Reasoning and Monster Gate are all taken care of with ease. Decks that have Field Spells have to go through Ash Blossom & Joyous Springtoo, when they activate Terraforming.

The game state in such situations would usually be a blank field, fulfilling the condition for PSY-Framegear Gamme to negate the effect of Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring, allowing your card effects to go through.

Synchro Summoning

Since PSY-Framegear Gamma will usually be used to negate Maxx “C” and Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring, you will get to summon out PSY-Frame Driver and PSY-Framegear Gamma during your turn.

You can then use the PSY-Frame monsters for a Synchro Summon or as Tributes for a Tribute Summon. This reduces the chances of unplayable hands as you can Tribute Summon out large-leveled monsters such as Kozmo Dark Destroyer and Master Peace, the True DracoslayingKing.

Either way, you will send PSY-Frame Driver to the graveyard instead of banishing it, keeping the engine alive.

While you have the option of many niche Level 8 synchro monsters, such as Crimson Blader or Stardust Dragon, plenty opt for PSY-Framelord Omega instead.

PSY-Framelord Omega

PSY-Framelord Omega
Effect Synchro Monster
Level 8 / LIGHT / Psychic
ATK 2800 / DEF 2200
1 Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters
Once per turn, during either player’s Main Phase: You can banish this card from the field and 1 random card from your opponent’s hand, face-up, until your next Standby Phase. Once per turn, during your opponent’s Standby Phase: You can target 1 banished card; return it to the Graveyard. If this card is in your Graveyard: You can target 1 other card in either player’s Graveyard; shuffle both that card and this card from the Graveyard into the Deck.

On the field, PSY-Framelord Omega is a threat to many Fusion summoning or Special summoning strategies, as it can potentially banish one of the key cards in your opponent’s hands and cause the ensuing resolution to fade off harmlessly. This can interfere with many meta threats such as the Invocation, [True King] archetype traps or the effects of lower-leveled Kozmo monsters when they banish themselves to special summon a Kozmo monster from the hand.

Cosmic Cyclone remains as a staple for S/T removal in this metagame. Victims of Cosmic Cyclone can be recovered back to the graveyard easily with PSY-Framelord Omega, if needed.

PSY-Framelord Omega also synergises with plenty of other archetypes. Its ability to return banished cards can be used to arm Master Peace, the True Dracoslaying King with ammunition. With Metalfoes Counter, you form a soft loop whereby you get to constantly retrieve your Metalfoes monsters from the Extra Deck, gathering your Pendulum scales. It can also return banished Kozmo monsters for them to be revived from the graveyard.

Lastly, PSY-Framelord Omega can be summoned via other means. Staples like Ghost Ogre & Snow Rabbit and even Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring are also tuners. This way, it can return a banished PSY-Frame Driver to keep the engine alive, preventing the copies of PSY-Framegear Gamma in your deck from being dead.

These factors further cement its role in [True Draco Metalfoes Kozmo] decks.

Conclusion

The benefits that PSY-Framelord Omega can provide is a humble reminder of why it is Limited under the OCG Limit Regulation.

Under the New Master Rule, PSY-Framelord Omega returns to the Main Monster Zone after being banished from the Extra Monster Zone with its own effect. This frees up the Extra Monster Zone for future Special Summons, yet another reason why players value it over other Synchro monsters.

should also be noted that it negates gosr. like if they use that on diagram in true draco kind/draco decks, vanishment in infernoids, or gammatron thats searched with oracle)in zefa (almost all zefra decks in ocg mained gamma).

maxx is def the scariest one for kozmo, and ghost ash is the scariest for infernoids (along with lancea), but the reason why we’re seeing it so much is cuz it can negate all 3 in different situations 🙂